Automated storage and retrieval system and control system thereof

ABSTRACT

An automated storage and retrieval system includes a storage space with storage locations defined therein, an automated transport system connected to the storage space and configured to transport store units for storage in the storage locations and retrieval from the storage locations, and a control system disposed for managing throughput performance of the automated storage and retrieval system, the control system being operably coupled to the automated transport system and having more than one separate and distinct control sections each configured for managing throughput performance with respect to a common group of the storage locations, wherein at least one of the control sections manages aspects of throughput performance of the common group independent of another of the control sections.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 16/182,460, filed Nov. 6, 2018 (now U.S. Pat. No.10,747,204), which is a continuation of U.S. Non-provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 15/677,309, filed Aug. 15, 2017 (now U.S. Pat. No.10,120,370), which is a continuation of U.S. Non-provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 14/229,004, filed Mar. 28, 2014 (now U.S. Pat. No.9,733,638), which claims priority from and the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/809,188 filed on Apr. 5, 2013, thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The one or more aspects of the exemplary embodiment generally relate toautomated storage and retrieval systems for warehouses and stores.

2. Brief Description of Related Developments

Automated storage and retrieval systems are desired such as forwarehouses and stores because of the potential and imagined efficienciesthat such systems present. Examples of such systems include storagestructure that define one or more levels of storage, locations andautomated transport systems (such as carts, fork lifts, otherindependent automated vehicles or rovers, elevators, linearly continuoustransport devices such as conveyors, roller beds, etc.) distributed ordisposed to transport store units to and from store locations throughoutthe storage array. Realization of the efficiency potential presented bysuch systems may at times involve disparate factors that may act tomitigate the potential benefits of other factors. For example, dynamicallocation of storage locations in the array, with appropriate dynamicdistribution of autonomous independent vehicles or rovers capable ofeffecting store unit placement in accordance with such allocation mayprovide for increased efficiencies in storage throughput. Similarly,greater transport speeds and freedom of movement of rovers may provideincreased efficiency, and greater density of storage locations fromhaving more storage levels or more closely spaced levels, or rack aislesmay provide improved storage efficiency of the storage space. As may berealized upon further consideration certain manipulation or actions tooptimize efficiencies of some factors may be in opposite or detract fromoptimal efficiencies of other factors resulting an overall efficiency ofthe ASRS that is minimally improved (if at all) despite significantefficiency gains in one factor or another. Overall efficiency of theASRS, which may be considered generally to include factors dealing withhow efficiently store units can be stored in the storage space (and maybe thought to represent cost of storing a store unit in the ASRS andotherwise referred to as storage space efficiency) and factors dealingwith how efficiently the store units may be moved, such as by theautomated transport system, into the storage space, though the storagespace to and from storage locations, in the storage space, and back outfrom the storage space (which may be thought of as representing the costof moving a store unit in the ASRS, and referred to as transportefficiency). An ASRS with an improved control system that maximizes bothstorage space efficiency and transport efficiency is desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and other features of the disclosed embodiment areexplained in the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a storage and retrieval system inaccordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 1A is a schematic illustration of a portion of the storage andretrieval system of FIG. 1 in accordance with aspects of the disclosedembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a control system of the storageand retrieval system of FIG. 1 in accordance with aspects of thedisclosed embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a chart illustrating the grouping of storage locations and/orstore units in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a chart illustrating an exemplary storage allocation inaccordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of control communications inaccordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a portion of control system inaccordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of a portion of control system inaccordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of a portion of control system inaccordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration of a portion of control system inaccordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an automated storage and retrievalsystem in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment. Althoughthe aspects of the disclosed embodiment will be described with referenceto the drawings, it should be understood that the aspects of thedisclosed embodiment can be embodied in many forms. In addition, anysuitable size, shape or type of elements or materials could be used.

In accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment the automatedstorage and retrieval system (ASRS) 100 may operate in a retaildistribution center or warehouse to, for example, fulfill ordersreceived from retail stores for store units (where store units as usedherein may include items not stored in trays, on totes or on pallets,and uncontained items stored in trays, totes or on pallets as well). Itis noted that the store units may include cases of items (e.g. cases ofsoup cans, boxes of cereal, etc.) or individual items that are adaptedto be taken off or placed on a pallet or otherwise shippedindependently. Thus, store units may be referred to herein as storeunits or payload units. In accordance with aspects of the disclosedembodiment, shipping cases or store units (e.g. cartons barrels, boxes,crates, jugs, totes, pallets or any other suitable device for holdingstore units) may have variable sizes and may be used to hold items inshipping and may be configured so they are capable of being palletizedfor shipping or shipped independently in bulk shipping containers. It isnoted that when, for example, bundles or pallets of store units arriveat the storage and retrieval system 100, the content of each pallet maybe uniform (e.g. each pallet holds a predetermined number of the sameitem—one pallet holds soup an another pallet holds cereal) and aspallets leave the storage and retrieval system the pallets may containany suitable number and combination of different items (e.g. each palletmay hold different types of items—a pallet holds a combination of soupand cereal). The aspects of the disclosed embodiment may be applied toany environment in which store units are stored and retrieved. As notedabove, the store units may vary in size. However, each store unit may beconsidered dimensionally as corresponding with a nominal or otherwisenormalized unit of measure. The nominal unit of measure may allow forplacement of the store units to be placed in storage spaces as will bedescribed in greater detail below.

Referring still to FIG. 1 , the automated storage and retrieval system(ASRS) 100 may be considered conceptually to generally comprise astorage space (or storage portion) 148, a transport system (otherwisereferred to herein for description purposes as a storage and retrievaltransport system 147) and a control portion or system 146. As may berealized, the storage space (which may be configured in any suitablemanner is disposed to define storage locations where store units may bestored by the ASRS as will be described further herein. In one aspect ofthe exemplary embodiment, the storage space configuration may includestructure that defines undeterministic support surfaces for the storeunits, so that storage locations and/or storage spaces associated withstorage locations may be varied, if desired. Thus, the location, in thestorage space, that may be allocated to any (and each) store unit of anysize, may be varied as desired, and such variability of location, andhence storage location allocation may be dynamically effected. In otheraspects of the exemplary embodiment, the storage structure may providedeterministic (e.g. engagement) features that may define a predeterminestorage location for some store units. As may be further realized, thetransport system 147 may be distributed in, through and/or around thestorage space 148 and provide the transport medium for store units to beinput into, transported through the storage space for storage incorresponding storage locations, retrieval from the storage locations,and finally output from the ASRS (such as in response to an order). Thetransport system 147 may thus be considered an engine for storage andretrieval of store units in and from the storage space. As will bedescribed further below, the transport system (also referred to asstorage and retrieval engine) 147 may include discontinuous transportelements or variable transport elements (e.g. independent automatedvehicles) so that order, origin, destination, and rate of differentstore units in the transport system may be independently varied asdesired. Control and management of the placement (e.g. storage locationallocation, or storage of store units) and retrieval of store units fromstorage locations in the storage space (e.g. it is from the storagelocations that the store units are being retrieved), and flow of storeunits via the transport system are controlled by the control system 146.In other words, the control system 146 plans resolution of store unitsinto storage locations of the storage space, and plans resolution oftransport of the store units with the transport system from input orloading stations of the ASRS to storage locations (e.g. storage), andplans resolution of transport of the store units from the storagelocations to output or unloading stations of the ASRS (e.g. retrieval).It is noted that the terms “storage” and “stored” may be used herein torefer to store units being situated or disposed in storage locations and“retrieval” or “retrieved” may be used herein to refer to store unitsbeing removed from the storage locations, and the term “storage andretrieval engine” may be used herein to refer to the transport system147 effecting storage and retrieval. The two aforementioned aspects(i.e. resolution of store units into storage locations or resolution ofstorage and retrieval, and resolution of store unit transport forstorage and retrieval in the storage space or resolution of the storeunits in the storage and retrieval engine) may be considered to defineprincipal parts, e.g. the “where” and “how”, of throughput of storeunits by the ASRS. By way of further explanation, throughput performancefor a given storage space (which may represent part of or the entirestorage space 148 of the ASRS) of the ASRS may be considered to be howefficiently store units are stored and retrieved in the given storagespace and how efficiently store units are transported by the storage andretrieval engine 147 effecting storage and retrieval in that storagespace. Accordingly, the resolution of storage and retrieval system (SRS)for a given storage space and resolution of the storage and retrievalengine 147 communicating with the given storage space 148 determine incombination the throughput performance of the given storage space(which, as noted above, may represent part of or the entire storagespace 148 of the ASRS). Thus as may be readily determined, the controlsystem 146 is configured to manage the throughput performance of theASRS by planning and control of the storage and retrieval of store unitsand planning and control of the storage and retrieval engine 147 as willbe described in further detail below.

In accordance with an aspect of the exemplary embodiment, planning andcontrol of the storage and retrieval of store units and/or planning andcontrol of the storage and retrieval engine 147 may be effectedindependently of the other. Thus, by way of example, planning andcontrol of the storage and retrieval system may be performed independentof the planning and control of the storage and retrieval engine 147 aswill be further described. More specifically, the conditions, parametersand considerations employed by the control system 146 processors as thebasis to effect planning and control of the storage and retrieval system(e.g. resolving store units into storage locations of the storage space)may be independent or decoupled from considerations, parameters andconditions forming the basis of planning and control of the storage andretrieval engine 147. In accordance with other aspects of the exemplaryembodiment, this may be reversed. Referring still to FIG. 1 , thecontrol server 120 may include any suitable number of processors (e.g.controllers or control portions 120S, 120T) to effect planning andcontrol of the storage and retrieval system and of the storage andretrieval engine 147. In accordance with an aspect of the exemplaryembodiment, the control server processor(s) may be configured to provideseparate controllers or control portions 120S, 120T respectivelymanaging and controlling the storage and retrieval system and thestorage and retrieval engine 147. In one aspect, the control portions120S, 120T may be separate and distinct (e.g. with separate and distinctprocessors corresponding to each section). In other aspects, theseparate control portions 120S, 120T may share some processors thoughplanning and control by the corresponding control portion of the storageand retrieval system and the storage and retrieval engine 147 maynonetheless be performed separately and independently as previouslydescribed and as will be described further herein.

The automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) 100 may include acontrol system 146 for managing storage in a storage space, such asstorage space 148, and throughput performance for that storage space148. The control system 146 may include more than one independentcontrol part where, e.g., a first control part (e.g. control portion120T also referred to herein as PNC controller 120T) may be configuredto control at least transport of store units (e.g. payload(s)) and asecond control part (e.g. control portion 120S also referred to hereinas SRS control portion 120S) may be configured to effect placement ofstore units in the storage space 148. At least one of the first andsecond control parts 120T, 120S may be decoupled from the other firstand second control part 120T, 120S so that information from at least thefirst or second control part 120T, 120S is generally defined as anindependent controller that produces output information that isindependent of output information from the other of the first or secondcontrol parts 120T, 120S. Output information from the other of first orsecond control parts 120T, 120S is based at least in part on the outputinformation from the at least one of the first and second control parts120T, 120S.

As noted above, the automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) 100may include a control system 146 (which will be described in greaterdetail below) and a storage structure 130. The storage structure 130 mayinclude a storage portion or storage space 148 and a transport systemthat, as noted above, may be referred to as a storage and retrievalengine (SRE) 147. Referring also to FIG. 1A the storage space 148 mayinclude multiple storage levels 130L that include storage rack modules130K that provide storage locations 130S at each storage level 130L. Inone aspect the storage rack modules 130K may be substantially similar tothose described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/757,220 filed onApr. 9, 2010 the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference hereinin its entirety. In one aspect a single level of storage locations 130Smay be provided at and accessed from each storage level 130L (e.g. onepicking aisle deck per storage space level) while in other aspects atleast one of the storage levels 130L may have may have access to morethan one level of storage locations 130S (e.g. one picking aisle deckper multiple levels of storage spaces). Each of the storage rack modules130K may have a frame formed by vertical supports 130KVE, 130KVH andhorizontal supports 130KH coupled to the vertical supports. Storageshelves may be fastened to or otherwise affixed to the horizontalsupports 130KH and be configured to support any suitable number of storeunits and/or pickfaces formed by the store units. In one aspect, thestorage locations 130S on one level of storage spaces in which the storeunits are placed may include sectioned groups of one or more storagespaces (e.g. storage bays) in that each storage space may havehorizontal boundaries formed by one end vertical supports 130KVE and oneintermediate vertical support 130KVH or horizontal boundaries formed bytwo intermediate vertical supports 130KVH. In other aspects, the storagelocations 130S on one level of storage locations may be formed by asubstantially continuous storage space that spans between the ends ofthe storage rack module 130K (e.g. between end vertical supports 130KVEand free from boundaries formed by any intermediate vertical supports130KVH). In still other aspects a length or size the storage locations130S may be apportioned on each level of storage spaces in any suitablemanner.

The term “storage and retrieval engine” 147 as used herein may refer tothe mechanism that facilitates the introduction and removal of storeunits to and from the storage and retrieval system 100 and/or moves thestore units within the storage space 148 or at least a portion of thestorage space 148. In one aspect the storage and retrieval engine 147includes one or more input cells 151, one or more output cells 152, oneor more of in-feed and/or out-feed transfer stations 160, input and/oroutput vertical lift modules 150, rover lift modules 190, autonomousrovers 110, picking aisles 130A and transfer decks 130B. In otheraspects the storage and retrieval engine 147 may have any suitableconfiguration with may include one or more of the input cells 151,output cells 152, in-feed and/or out-feed transfer stations 160, inputand/or output vertical lift modules 150, rover lift modules 190,autonomous rovers 110, picking aisles 130A and transfer decks 130B. Theone or more input cells 151 and one or more output cells 152 may be anysuitable loading/unloading cells allowing store units to be generallyinput to and output from the ASRS 100 either manually or through anautomated system. Store units may be transferred to or from for example,pallets or other shipping container/platform within the one or moreinput cells 151 and one or more output cells 152. The one or more inputcells 151 and the one or more output cells 152 may include any suitableconveyor or transport for transporting store units to or from, forexample, a vertical lift module 150 while in other aspects the storeunits may be placed substantially directly on one or more of thevertical lift modules. It is noted that in one aspect a single cell 151,152 may be used to both input and output store units to and from theASRS 100. The transfer stations 160 may be dedicated input transferstations, dedicated output transfer stations and/or one or more transferstations may be configured for both the input and output of store units.Each transfer station 160 may include any suitable palletizer and/orde-palletizer and any suitable conveyor and in one aspect may be part ofa respective input cell 151 or output cell 152. The de-palletizer mayremove store units from pallets and place the store units on therespective conveyor for transport to a lift module 150. In other aspectsthe de-palletizer may transport the store units from the pallet to thelift module 150. The palletizer may remove store units from a respectiveconveyor transporting store units from a lift module 150 and place thestore units on a pallet in a predetermined manner for shipment accordingto a customer order. In other aspects the palletizer may transport thestore units from the lift module to the pallet. As may be realized thestore units may be transferred between the lift modules 150 and thetransfer station conveyors in any suitable manner. The lift modules 150may be any suitable vertical lift modules configured for transportingstore units from the transfer station conveyors to a predeterminedstorage level 130L.

The transfer decks 130B and picking aisles 130A may be connected to eachother to form the different storage levels 130L such that one transferdeck 130B provides rover 110 access to at least one picking aisle 130Aon a respective storage level 130L. The transfer decks 130B may also beconnected to the lift modules 150 (e.g. for providing rover 110 accessto the lift modules 150 for transferring store units between the rovers110 and the lift modules 150 in any suitable manner) and/or the roverlift module(s) 190 (e.g. for allowing rovers 110 to be input or removedfrom each storage level 130L via the rover lift module 190). The pickingaisles 130A may be connected in any suitable manner to, for example, thestorage rack modules 130K to provide rover 110 access to one or morelevels of the storage locations 130S. The picking aisles 130A may beconfigured to allow the rovers 110 to traverse the picking aisles 130Aand transition between the picking aisles 130A and respective transferdeck 130B in any suitable manner. Suitable examples of the storage andretrieval system structure noted above can be found in, for example,United States patent applications entitled “Automated Storage andRetrieval System” (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/215,310) filed onMar. 17, 2014; “Storage and Retrieval System Rover Interface” (U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/229,004) filed on Mar. 28, 2014; and“Automated Storage and Retrieval System Structure” (U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/209,209) filed on Mar. 13, 2014, the disclosuresof which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The rovers 110 may be any suitable autonomous vehicles capable ofcarrying and transferring store units along the transfer decks 130B andpicking aisles 130A. In one aspect the rovers 110 may be automated,independent (e.g. free riding) rovers. Suitable examples of rovers canbe found in, for exemplary purposes only, U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/326,674 filed on Dec. 15, 2011; U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/757,312 filed on Apr. 9, 2010; U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/326,423 filed on Dec. 15, 2011; U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/326,447 filed on Dec. 15, 2011; U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/326,505 Dec. 15, 2011; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/327,040filed on Dec. 15, 2011; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/326,952filed on Dec. 15, 2011; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/326,993filed on Dec. 15, 2011, the disclosures of which are incorporated byreference herein in their entireties. The rovers 110 may be configuredto place store units, such as the above described retail merchandise,into picking stock in the one or more levels of the storage structure130 and then selectively retrieve ordered store units for shipping theordered store units to, for example, a store or other suitable location.

The rovers 110, vertical lift modules 150, rover lift modules 190, theone or more input/output cells 151, 152, transfer stations 160 and othersuitable features of the storage and retrieval system 100 may becontrolled by, for example, one or more central system controlcomputers, such as control server 120, (which will be described ingreater detail below) through, for example, any suitable network 180.The network 180 may be a wired network, a wireless network or acombination of a wireless and wired network using any suitable typeand/or number of communication protocols. In one aspect, the controlserver 120 may include a collection of substantially concurrentlyrunning programs (e.g. system management software) for substantiallyautomatic control of the automated storage and retrieval system 100. Thecollection of substantially concurrently running programs may beconfigured to manage the storage and retrieval system 100 including, forexemplary purposes only, controlling, scheduling, and monitoring theactivities of all active system components, managing inventory (e.g.which store units are input and removed and where the store units arestored) and pickfaces (e.g. one or more store units that are movable asa unit), and interfacing with the warehouse management system 195.

In one aspect the ASRS 100 may be divided into any suitable number ofzones, e.g., Zone 1, Zone 2 . . . Zone n where each zone may include anydesired portion of storage space 148 and/or a desired portion of thestorage and retrieval engine 147. The desired portion of the storagespace 148 may include all or a portion of a storage structure level 130Land the corresponding storage racks 130K and storage locations 130Slocated on that storage structure level 130L or the portion thereof. Inother aspects the desired portion of the storage space 148 may includemultiple storage levels 130L or portions of multiple storage levels andthe corresponding storage racks 130K and storage locations 130S. Thedesired portion of the storage and retrieval engine 147 may include oneor more of picking aisles 130A (or a portion thereof), transfer deck130B (or a portion thereof), rover lift modules 190, lift modules 150,transfer stations 160, charging stations 130C, registration stations130R, input cells 151 and output cells 152. The rovers 110 may becapable of traversing between the zones Zone 1, Zone 2 . . . Zone n sothat store units can be picked or placed in any one of the zones Zone 1,Zone 2 . . . Zone n by a rover 110 that is common to the one or morezones Zone 1, Zone 2 . . . Zone n. In other aspects each zone Zone 1,Zone 2 . . . Zone n may have dedicated rovers 110 that are substantiallyconfined within a respective zone Zone 1, Zone 2 . . . Zone n. Thedifferent zones may allow for the storage of store units within the ASRS100 in a distributed manner and provide redundant access to store unitsas will be described in greater detail below. Suitable examples of zonescan be found in, for example, U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/326,565, filed Dec. 15, 2011, and U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/794,065, filed on Mar. 15, 2013, the disclosures of whichare incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Referring also to FIG. 2 , in one aspect the system control server 120may include a storage and retrieval (SRS) control portion 120S, alsoreferred to as SRS control portion 120S, and a planning and controlportion (PNC) 120T, also referred to as PNC controller 120T, for thestorage and retrieval engine 147. The storage and retrieval (SRS)control portion 120S may be configured to drive or control the storagearrangement of the storage space 148 (also referred to herein as storageand retrieval system) for achieving and maintaining optimal distributionof the inventory 200 within the storage space 148. As noted before, thestorage and retrieval (SRS) control portion 120S may drive the storageand retrieval system substantially independent of constraints andconsiderations related to the plan and control of the storage andretrieval engine 147, such as for example, rover 110 paths or otherstore unit transportation and/or input/output factors. The result ineffect, is to decouple storage efficiency from transport efficiency. Inone aspect at least one of the storage and retrieval control portion120S and the planning and control portion 120T may operate independentfrom the other one of the storage and retrieval control portion 120S andplanning and control portion 120S. In other aspects the control portions120S, 102T may operate together or otherwise cooperate in any suitablemanner. The storage and retrieval control portion 120S may, in oneaspect, be considered to advise, provide suggestions or inputinformation that form a basis to the planning and control portion 120Tand may enable planning resolution, by the planning and control portion(PNC) 120T, of the storage and retrieval system and hence of thethroughput performance of the ASRS 100 as will be described in greaterdetail below. The information output from the storage and retrievalcontrol portion 120S to the planning and control portion (PNC) 120T mayrepresent or otherwise embody storage efficiency for various storagelocations 130S as located with given incoming and/or outgoing storeunits (e.g. for each incoming/outgoing stock keeping unit or SKU). Byway of example, the storage and retrieval (SRS) control portion 120S mayprovide to the planning and control portion 120T, e.g. for each SKUitem, a list of selectable storage location 130S options, that may beweighted or otherwise scored for storage space efficiency. The planningand control portion (PNC) 120T may, for its part, choose from theselectable storage locations 130S (received from the SRS control portion120S) when assigning tasks to the components of the storage andretrieval engine 147, such as rovers 110 as will be described in greaterdetail below.

The SRS control portion 120S may be programmed with suitable rules thatoperate to evaluate and resolve storage and retrieval (e.g. location tofill and empty) within the storage space 148 based on factors that areindependent of resolution or plan and control of the storage andretrieval engine 147. Referring to FIG. 3 there is shown in tabularform, an optimization range or distribution that represents theresolution provided by the SRS control portion 120S for the storage andretrieval system. The SRS control portion 120S may evaluate theoptimization of each location to be filled or emptied, assigning it avalue or score within the range 302, which has a corresponding meaningor interpretation 303 for further plan and control. The locations tofill and empty (e.g. store units to pick) within the storage space 148may be evaluated using one or more suitable factors which may bereferred to, for exemplary purposes as store and space factors. Thesestore and space factors may be used for both storage location 130S (e.g.store location) allocation on inbound store units and storage locationallocation on outbound store units (e.g. ordered store units). The storeand space factors may each be considered/evaluated independently of eachother or in any desired combination(s), for efficiency of storagelocation(s) with respect to the store and space factors. It is notedthat the factors considered may be static (e.g. they do not change) orthey may be dynamic (e.g. the factors may change depending on forexample, predetermined circumstances or rules). The efficiencies may becombined for a total storage space efficiency per location of a desiredstore unit or multiple store units. In one aspect the store and spacefactors may include density of store units, redundancy of store units,throughput (slow/fast moving store units), expiration of store units,fragmentation of storage locations/store units, weight of store units,customer/business rules and/or any other suitable factors. Theredundancy of store units noted above may refer to the placement ofstore units within the ASRS 100 so that the same type of store unit isstored in different locations and/or storage zones, such as Zone 1, Zone2, Zone n as shown in FIG. 1 , of the ASRS 100 so that if access to apredetermined store unit at one location/zone is blocked or thepredetermined store unit is otherwise inaccessible another store unit ofthe same type may be retrieved from a different accessiblelocation/zone. It is noted that where the operation of the storage andretrieval control portion 120S is independent of the planning andcontrol portion 120T these factors and any analysis related thereto maybe hidden from the planning and control portion 120T.

Each storage location 130S and/or the store units located in the storagelocations 130S may be placed in groups 301 based on where each storagelocation 130S and/or store unit is ranked within an optimization range302. The range 302 may be based on one or more of the above-describedfactors and range between a maximum score and a minimum score (e.g.between 1 and 0, otherwise normalized values representing bestefficiency and worst efficiency) having a generally continuous rangefrom the maximum score to the minimum score (e.g. a gapless (i.e.without gaps) full spectrum range). Where the scores are based on morethan one factor a score may be generated for each of the factors andthen combined in any suitable manner such as, for example, using aheuristic where the combined score is associated with a group numberassociated with the score. The score range 302 may include any suitabletype of ranking system (e.g. numeric, alphabetical, alphanumeric,fractional, decimal, etc.) capable of embodying and relating the scoreas output information of the SRS control portion 120S. As may berealized, in one aspect, the higher the ranking the more desirable theuse of that storage location 130S and/or store unit. The group numbersand scores for each storage location 130S and/or store unit may becommunicated to the planning and control portion 120T in any suitablemanner for interpretation and used for resolving the storage andretrieval engine 147 effecting addition and/or removal of store unitsfrom the ASRS 100. In one aspect, illustrated in FIG. 3 , the range maybe divided into discrete segments or groups, where the optimizationvalues may vary between high and low bounds for that segment, but sharea common planning and control meaning 303. For exemplary purposes only,group number 1 having score range 1 may be interpreted (e.g.“Interpretation A”) by the planning and control portion 120T so that thelocations or store units included in group number 1 are used first, ifat all possible. Group number 2 having score range 2 may be interpreted(e.g. “Interpretation B”) by the planning and control portion 120T sothat the locations or store units included in group number 2 are used atwill as all the storage locations/store units are all pretty good. Groupnumber 3 having score range 3 may be interpreted (e.g. “InterpretationC”) by the planning and control portion 120T so that the locations orstore units included in group number 2 are used if there are not enoughstorage spaces/store units in group number 2. The desired use of thestorage locations and/or store units may decrease as the score rangemoves towards the minimum value such that, for example, group number nhaving score range n may be interpreted (e.g. “Interpretation n”) by theplanning and control portion 120T so that the locations or store unitsincluded in group number n are avoided if at all possible.

As noted before, one of the optimization factors considered by the SRScontrol portion 120S may be fragmentation of the storage locations whichrepresents the relationship of a storage location (or desiredcharacteristics thereof, such as size, type of store unit to be storedtherein, etc.) to neighboring storage locations (or comparablecharacteristics thereof). Optimization of the fragmentation factordrives disposition of storage and retrieval to prevent remote clustersof storage locations. Referring to FIG. 4 , placement of inbound storeunits into storage locations 130S may be a dynamic process, and in orderto assist in fragmentation factorization, the storage space 148(whether, e.g., linear (1 dimensional) such as along a picking aisle,two dimensional such as on a storage level, or three dimensional such ason multiple storage levels) may be resolved into predetermined sizedlocations that may be variably distributed along the storage rackmodules 130K. Each storage location 130S may be capable of acceptingstore units that are equal to or less than the predetermined size of thestorage location 130S. For example, each of the storage locations 130Sscored by the storage and retrieval control portion 120S may have apre-assigned storage size on a respective level of the storage rackmodules 130K. The storage locations 130S having pre-assigned sizes maybe matched to expected store unit distribution and optimally fill eachstorage bay (or substantially continuous storage space as describedabove). The assignment of the storage space sizes may account for one ormore (e.g. both) of density of storage and fragmentation of the storagelocations 130S and/or store units. In one aspect a storage bay or othersuitable shelf space may have any suitable size associated with it. Inone aspect the size of the storage space (as well as the size of thepre-assigned storage locations) may have unitized or otherwisenormalized units into which the storage space is broken. For exemplarypurposes only with respect to the exemplary pre-assigned storagelocation sizes shown in FIG. 4 , each storage bay may have a shelf sizeof 30 units. In other aspects each storage bay may be divided into anysuitable number of units with respect to the shelf size. Each storagebay on each level may be subdivided in any suitable manner so that a sumof the combined storage location sizes is substantially equal to theshelf size. For example, referring to storage level 1 and storage bay 1in FIG. 4 , each number listed in the storage bay may represent a unitsize of a respective storage location 130S. The unit sizes used in thestorage bays for each storage location may correspond with the unitizedsizes of the store units described above. The pre-assigned unit sizes ofeach storage location 130S within a storage bay (or other suitablestorage space) may be determined in any suitable manner so as to obtaina predetermined storage density that lacks fragmentation. For example,fragmentation may occur when a large number of the same size or type ofstore units are bunched or otherwise located side by side in one or morebays so as to create segregated bunches of store units. While thisarrangement of store units may result in a high storage density, thissegregation of store units may cause a first type of store unit to belocated such that a rover 110 travels a first distance to access thefirst type of store unit. This segregation may also cause a second typeof store unit to be located such that the rover travels a seconddistance that is much farther than the first distance to access thesecond type of store unit. These widely segregated bunches of storeunits result in a fragmented and poorly distributed storage. The unitsizes in the storage bays are arranged so that different types and sizesof store units are distributed within the storage bays to avoidfragmentation and to avoid large empty spaces on the storage shelves.Referring again to storage bay 1 on storage level 1 in FIG. 4 , forexample, storage bay 1 is divided into six storage locations 130S thelargest of which has a size of 6 units. This means that a store unithaving a size of 6 units or less can be placed in that storage location.As such, the most empty space that may result from placement of a storeunit in that storage location would be the unit size of the storageminus 1 (e.g. the unit size of the smallest store unit).

In another aspect, the storage shelves may be considered as asubstantially open continuum having variably located storage spaces. Forexample, placement of a first store unit in a storage bay may be suchthat the store unit is placed in a center of the storage bay dividingthe storage bay into two remaining sections. Subsequent store units maybe placed in the center of each of the remaining section furtherdividing those sections into an additional two sections and so forthdividing each remaining section in half until the remaining space is toosmall for additional store units to fit into. In still other aspects,the store units may be placed in the storage space 148 in any suitablemanner to substantially prevent fragmentation and provide any suitabledensity of store units.

As noted above, the storage and retrieval control portion 120S providesoutput information, defining selectable resolutions of the storage andretrieval system, to the planning and control portion (PNC) 120T that isused by the PNC controller, and in accordance with one aspect enablesthe PNC controller to resolve transport of the store units with thestorage and retrieval engine. For example, an exemplary interactionbetween the storage and retrieval control portion 120S the planning andcontrol portion 120T is shown in FIG. 5 . Here the planning and controlportion 120T provides a list to the storage and retrieval controlportion 120S of selectable storage locations for store units that may bepicked from a selected storage location 130S, placed at a selectedstorage location 130S or otherwise moved within the storage andretrieval system between selected storage locations. The storage andretrieval control portion 120S may then look up in inventory 200 thelocations and numbers of the store units identified by the planning andcontrol portion that already exist in the storage space 148 in general(e.g. all levels), in the storage space 148 on a predetermined storagelevel 130L or any other suitable information pertaining to theidentified store units. The storage and retrieval control portion 120Smay use this information obtained from the inventory 200 to create anordered list of store units and for each store unit an ordered list ofselectable locations corresponding thereto. This ordered list may beprovided to the planning and control portion 120T so that the planningand control portion 120T may determine how the store units are going tobe transferred to or removed from the storage locations 130S as will bedescribed in greater detail below.

As noted before, and referring still to FIG. 5 , the PNC controller 120Tplans and controls the storage and retrieval engine 147 to effecttransport of each of the store units on the ordered list to or from theselected storage location (corresponding to the given store unit) fromthe ordered list of selectable storage locations (for that store unit)provided by the SRS control portion 120S. These lists may be referred toas storage and retrieval lists. As also noted before, and shown in FIG.5 , the PNC controller 120T may plan and control the storage andretrieval engine 147 to effect transport of store units such as forrepositioning and or relocating the store units in the storage space 148also in accordance with lists of selectable storage locations generatedby SRS control portion 120S and provided to the PNC controller 120T.Thus, in one aspect SRS control portion 120S may be suitably programmedto review optimization of the storage space 148 not only in response tostorage and retrieval requests or activity, but also in interveningperiods. This review may be dynamic, effected for example periodically,such as after one or more storage and/or retrieval actions, continuouslyor upon reaching a predetermined threshold or at any other suitabletime. This optimization may be determined in a manner similar to thatpreviously described for storage and retrieval system optimization, andthe result is also an ordered list of store units (being repositionedin, rather than introduced or removed from the storage space), and foreach store unit an ordered list of selectable storage locations may beprovided by the SRS control portion 120S to the PNC controller 120T. Thelist which may be referred to as a reposition list may be provided bythe SRS control portion 120S coincident with the storage and retrievallists, or separately, and the corresponding transport plan and controlby the PNC controller 120T may be effected as desired, though in asimilar manner for all. In one aspect, as illustrated in the schematicof FIG. 5 , initiation of the storage and retrieval plan and control maycommence with the PNC controller 120T, such as upon receipt by anysuitable controller, such as control server 120, of a suitable requestsuch as an input or output order of the store units (that may be enteredvia a suitable interface, not shown). In other aspects, initiation maycommence with any other one or more control portions as desired.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 5 , in accordance with one aspect, theordered list generated by the SRS control portion 120S, and input to thePNC controller 120T, may include (as noted before) more than one storagelocation that is selectable for each store unit in the ordered list. Asmay be realized, each selectable storage location for the given storeunit may have a corresponding optimization or efficiency value (score)302 _(1-n) determined by the SRS control portion 120S as previouslydiscussed, and the corresponding interpretation 303 _(A-n) (which may beprogrammed in the PNC controller 120T or otherwise suitably communicatedto the PNC controller 120T as desired). The optimization valuescorresponding to each selectable location on the list may be provided asinformation in the list and is used by PNC controller 120T to select thedesired storage location from the selectable locations provided on thelist, as will be described further below. As may also be realized, inone aspect, the SRS control portion 120S may determine selectablestorage locations for each store unit that may have differentoptimization values 302 _(1-n) (such as selectable locations havinghigher optimization and others having lower optimization), though undersuitable conditions of the storage space, several of the selectablestorage locations that have been determined may have similaroptimization values (e.g. subject to a common interpretation). Inaccordance with an aspect, the SRS control portion 120S may determinethe selectable storage location for a given store unit within a commonzone (see FIG. 1 ) of the storage structure, though in other aspects,selectable locations may be distributed over more than one zone. Asnoted before, the PNC controller 120T may select the storage location,for each ordered store unit, from the selectable storage locationslisted by the SRS control portion 120S for that store unit. Thus, thelist of selectable storage locations (independently generated by andprovided) from the SRS control portion 120S may be considered as anenabler or enabling the PNC controller 120T to effect planning andcontrol of the throughput performance for the zone(s) and for the entireASRS 100.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment, the PNCcontroller 120T may effect selection of the storage location for a givenordered store unit by comparing the optimization value of each of theselectable storage locations (for that store unit) with performanceoptimization or efficiency potential of the storage and retrieval systemin effecting transport of the store unit to each of the selectablestorage locations. The performance efficiencies of the storage andretrieval engine (SRE) 147 for the potential transport to each of theselectable storage locations may be estimated by the PNC controller 120T(with an integral processor or remotely) as will be described herein.The PNC controller 120T may then balance, weigh or otherwise combine theSRS optimization value for each selectable storage location against theperformance efficiency potential for the transport to/from that storagelocation to identify the selectable storage location with the highestSRS optimization value and highest performance efficiency potentialwhich may then be selected as the storage location. The PNC controller120T may have suitable programming with preferences to effect selectionin the event of a tie between selectable storage locations. As may berealized, the performance efficiency potential may be expressed as anumerical value or in any other suitable form to facilitate balancing orcombination with the SRS optimization value. It may be realized, thatthe PNC controller 120T is configured to effect input and outputperformance via the storage and retrieval engine 147 that moves storeunits from origin to destination as quickly as possible (e.g.performance efficiency). The PNC controller 120T may estimate theperformance efficiency potential (e.g. the highest performanceefficiency of transport) for each of the selectable storage locationswith any suitable state estimation system such as system models, neuralnetworks and others.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7 , which respectively show a schematicview of a PNC controller 120T, and another schematic view of the portionof the control system 146 (see also FIG. 1 ), the PNC controller 120Tmay be a distributed control system with a hierarchical architecturethat is arranged to perform control plan resolution with increasinggranularity or detail at progressively subordinate levels of thecontroller. As seen in FIG. 6 , the PNC controller 120T may havemultiple controller levels (e.g. superior or higher level 622, and adesired number of progressively subordinate levels 624, 626; theillustrated example shows two subordinate levels but in other aspectsmore or fewer subordinate levels may be provided). Each controller levelmay have one or more controllers or controller nodes. By way of example,each controller/node may be generating commands for subordinatecontrollers/nodes. Sensory data may be passed upwards through thehierarchy from leaf or base nodes 626A-626C that may be any suitablesensors and/or actuators. In one aspect, the high level controller 622of the PNC controller 120T is programmed to determine the storagelocation for each store unit in the storage and retrieval order list,previously described, and assign the task of effecting transport of thegiven store unit with the storage and retrieval engine 147 tocontrollers on subordinate levels. Expressed another way, the high levelcontroller is configured to generate high level tasks (that effectthroughput performance) and amongst which are high level tasks thatdetermine the storage location for each corresponding store unitthroughput by the ASRS 100 and assign the high level tasks to one ormore subordinate controllers to be carried out. The subordinatecontrollers 624A, 624B may be programmed for generating commands and/orinstructions for subordinated controllers 626A, 626B from the tasksassigned, so that the subordinated controllers 626A, 626B may effectcontrol, such as, of transport automation components (e.g. rovercontrollers and sensors, lift module actuators and sensors, etc.) andperform actions that accomplish the assigned tasks. The intermediatesubordinate controllers 624A, 624B may be configured so that each may becapable of generating commands (for respective controllers subordinatedthereto) independently of the high level controllers 622 as will bedescribed further below.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment, the controlsystem may incorporate what may be referred to as model predictivecontrol (MPC), wherein one or more models 747 (see also FIG. 7 ), suchas, of the storage and retrieval engine 147 and/or components thereof,communicate and inform the control nodes or level controllers 722, 724(having level controllers 724A_(1-n) generally referred to as levelcontroller/control node 724A and 724B_(1-n) generally referred to asvertical controller/control node 724B) of the PNC controller 120T (tothe extent common portions of the control system are shown in FIGS. 6and 7 , similar features are similarly numbered). In one aspect MPC isused by each control node 722, 724A, 724B of the PNC controller 120T. Byway of example, the control section may include a system model 747, thatmodels performance aspects, and constraints of components (e.g. liftmodules, the storage structure, rovers, charging stations, input andoutput cells, etc.) of the storage and retrieval engine 147 andinterfacing structure of the storage space 148. The system modelsolution may explore state trajectories for actions, such astransportation of store units in the order list to each of theselectable storage locations (previously described). The system modelmay be updated, for example, via sensory and actuation data from lowerlevel controllers, on a substantially real time basis, enabling “on thefly” determination of optimum solutions over a predetermined timeperiod. A state maintenance and estimation module 748 may be provided,which may be coupled to the state models and may facilitate estimationand maintenance of state trajectories generated with the state model.The state trajectory estimates thus are dynamic and may account foruncertainty and disturbances, changes in resources, objectives and/orconstraints and may be updated over a desired segment of thepredetermined time period according to various disturbances and/ortriggers (e.g. receding planning horizon, request for subordinate node,level shutdown, rover failure, lift module shut down, storage pickaction failure, storage put/place action failure, etc.). Referring alsoto FIG. 8 , as noted before, the optimal solutions (which may define theperformance efficiency potential previously described) for each of theselectable storage locations (from the SRS control portion 120S, shownalso in FIG. 7 ) may be provided to the control node (e.g. a high levelcontroller or node) 722 of the PNC controller 120T. The high levelcontrol node 722 may thus proceed to select from the selectable locationlist, the storage location for each store unit (such as previouslydescribed by balancing the performance efficiency potential against theSRS optimization value) and generate corresponding tasks(s) for thecontrol nodes (e.g. subordinate controllers or nodes) 724A, 724B thatsatisfy the transport objective associated with the store unit andselected storage location (e.g. pick certain stock keeping unit (SKU)from selected storage location and move to output cell and/or placecertain SKU from input cell in selected storage location). The highlevel control node 722 may generate the tasks commensurate with thecontrol configuration of the subordinate controller(s) 724A, 724B.Moreover, the control configuration may conform to the arrangement ofthe SRE 147 components. By way of example, subordinate controllers724A_(1-n), (otherwise referred to herein as level controllers) may beprovided for controlling actions at each level of the transport system(e.g. in one aspect the SRE 147 may include rovers/bots/independentautonomous vehicles that move store units on levels). As may be realizedfrom FIG. 7 , the rovers may have rover controllers subordinated to thelevel controllers 724A_(1-n) for the level(s) on which the rovers may beoperating. In order to achieve the transport objective (e.g. pick/placeSKU from/to the selected storage location) the high level controller 722may generate corresponding task(s) for the level controller(s)724A_(1-n) controlling the rovers on such levels where the given SKU(store unit) is to be handled and transported by the rover(s). This isschematically depicted in FIG. 8 , wherein if SKU A is to be moved onlevel 1 according to the objective of the PNC controller 120T, the highlevel controller 722 generates a corresponding task for thecorresponding level controller 724A₁ (e.g. move SKU A from the selectedstorage location on level 1).

As noted before, the level controller 724 (at a subordinate level to thehigher level controller 722) may be configured for independentlygenerating commands to the still lower level controllers (e.g. the rovercontrollers subordinated to the respective level controllers 724A_(1-n))to perform actions that effect the task assigned to the respective levelcontroller 724A_(1-n). In one aspect, the level controller 724A_(1-n)may independently determine the rover 110 assignments that will handleand move the store units corresponding to the tasks assigned the levelcontroller 724A_(1-n) by the high level controller 722. The levelcontroller 724A_(1-n) may also use model predictive control indetermining assignments for the rovers 110 (referring again to FIG. 7 ,a rover router 749 may be provided). The level controller(s) 724A_(1-n)thus may be configured to solve the rover 110 routing problem and mayresolve traffic management and routing destination to provide an optimalsolution to rover tasking. The level controller 724A_(1-n) may selectthe optimal rover 110 from the selectable rovers 110 on the respectivelevel and generate the rover assignment to the task. The levelcontroller(s) 724A_(1-n) assignments to the rovers 110 (or rovercontrollers) may determine destination (e.g. the selected storagelocation of the ordered SKU according to the task assignment) and pathfor the rover 110 to move from origin or initial location of the rover110 on the level to the assigned destination. In one aspect, the storagelocations 130S (FIG. 1 ) may be arrayed along storage/picking aisles130A (FIG. 1 ), that may be interconnected by transfer decks 130B (FIG.1 ) providing substantially open or undeterministic riding surfaces (asuitable example of which is described in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/757,220 filed on Apr. 9, 2010, previously incorporated byreference). Accordingly, multiple paths may be available for the rover110 to proceed from the origin (at the time of tasking) to thedestination. The level controller solution may select the optimal pathfor the given rover 110 and the problem of rover assignment and routingmay be solved in a coordinated manner for all rovers 110 on the levelover a predetermined period of time. Each rover assignment (destinationand path) may thus be optimized over the predetermined period of time(e.g. horizon), and the controller solution may be dynamically updatedfor desired time segments in the predetermined period of time to accountfor changing conditions, objectives, resources and parameters.

As seen in FIG. 7 , the PNC controller 120T may include otherintermediate subordinate controllers 724B that may provide plan andcontrol for other segments of the storage and retrieval system 100. Inone aspect, vertical controller(s) 724B_(1-n) may be provided. The highlevel controller 722 may assign tasks to the vertical controller(s)724B_(1-n) in a similar manner to the level controller 724A_(1-n) tasks.As may be realized the vertical controller tasks represent the vertical(e.g. changing levels) component of the transport objectives to beaccomplished by the PNC controller 120T. The vertical controller(s)724B_(1-n) may be responsible for assigning tasks to the verticaltransporter(s) (e.g. lift modules 150) to optimize the performancewithin the respective constraints.

In accordance with one or more aspect of the exemplary embodiment, anautomated storage and retrieval system comprises a storage space withstorage locations defined therein; an automated transport systemconnected to the storage space and configured to transport store unitsfor storage in the storage locations and retrieval from the storagelocations; and a control system disposed for managing throughputperformance of the automated storage and retrieval system, the controlsystem being operably coupled to the automated transport system andhaving more than one separate and distinct control sections eachconfigured for managing throughput performance with respect to a commongroup of the storage locations, wherein at least one of the controlsections manages aspects of throughput performance of the common groupindependent of another of the control sections.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theother control section is configured for managing other aspects ofthroughput performance of the common group of storage locations that aredifferent than the aspects managed by the at least one of the controlsections.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theat least one control section is communicably coupled to the othercontrol section and wherein the at least one control section is arrangedto communicate information regarding the aspects of throughputperformance managed thereby to the other control section.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theat least one control section is communicably coupled to the othercontrol section and wherein the other control section is arranged toreceive information from the at least one control section andincorporate the information from the at least one control section intothroughput performance managing determinations performed by the othercontrol section.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theinformation from the at least one control section incorporated intothroughput performance managing determinations of the other controlsection is related to aspects of throughput performance managedindependently by the at least one control section.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theautomated transport system comprises at least one independent automatedvehicle configured for holding and transporting store units to and fromthe storage locations.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theat least one independent automated vehicle is configured to traverse atransport space disposed in the storage space, the transport space beingarranged to define access for the at least one independent automatedvehicle to each storage location of the storage space.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theat least one independent automated vehicle is configured so that ittraverses the transport space to at least one of the storage locationsvia un-deterministic paths.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theautomated transport system comprises at least a lift configured forraising and lowering store units between levels of the storagelocations.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theautomated transport system comprises a lifting and lowering transportsection for transporting store units between storage levels at differentheights of the storage space, and comprises a horizontal transportsection for transporting store units to and from storage locations of atleast one of the storage levels, wherein the lifting and lower transportsection and the horizontal transport section are connected to eachother.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, anautomated storage and retrieval system comprises a storage space withstorage locations distributed therein; an automated storage andretrieval engine coupled to the storage space and arranged to transport,store and retrieve store units from storage locations of the storagespace; and a control system communicably coupled to the automatedstorage and retrieval engine and configured for managing storage andretrieval throughput performance of a common group of the storagelocations of the storage space, the control system having more than oneseparate and distinct controllers managing throughput performancewherein, a first controller of the more than one controllers isconfigured for controlling the engine to effect transport of store unitsto and from storage locations of the common group, and a secondcontroller of the more than one controllers is configured forcontrolling the disposition of store units in the storage locations ofthe common group.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, atleast one of the first and second controllers is operably independentfrom the other so that a control portion effected by the at least one ofthe first and second controllers and related to the throughputperformance is decoupled from another control portion effected byanother of the first and second controllers and related to thethroughput performance.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, thefirst and second controllers are communicably connected to each other,the other controller being configured to receive information from theoperably independent controller and incorporate the information ineffecting the other control portion.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, thefirst controller or second controller defines an independent controllerthat provides the control system information effecting storage andretrieval and throughput performance independent of another of the firstcontroller or second controller.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theother controller provides the control system other information effectingstorage and retrieval and throughput performance, the other informationbeing based on the independent information from the independentcontroller.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theindependent information is related to determination of storage locationfor a predetermined one of the store units, and is based onpredetermined characteristic of the storage location and predeterminedcharacteristics of neighboring storage locations.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theindependent information represents storage efficiency of the commongroup of storage locations.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theother information provides a determination of a storage location for thepredetermined store unit and the independent information providesseveral selectable storage locations for the predetermined store unit,each of the selectable storage locations having a different storageefficiency associated therewith.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theother controller is configured to determine a storage location for thepredetermined store unit by selecting the storage location from theseveral selectable storage locations provided by the independentinformation.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theother controller is configured to effect the selection by balancing, foreach selectable storage location, the storage efficiency associated withthe selectable storage location against throughput performanceefficiency associated with the selectable storage location.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theother controller is configured to determine the throughput performanceefficiency associated with each selectable storage location.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, anautomated storage and retrieval system comprises a storage space withstorage locations defined therein; an automated transport systemconnected to the storage space and comprising automated componentsconfigured to transport store units for storage in the storage locationand retrieval from the storage locations; and a control system disposedfor managing throughput performance of the automated storage andretrieval system, the control system having a distributed hierarchicalarrangement comprising one or more high level controllers, one or morelower level controllers communicably connected to the one or more highlevel controllers, and one or more base controllers communicablyconnected to the lower level controllers, the one or more lower levelcontrollers intervening between the one or more base controllers and theone or more high level controllers; wherein the one or more high levelcontrollers is configured for generating high level tasks effectingthroughput performance and managing the high level tasks includingassigning high level tasks that determine distinct storage locations ofcorresponding store units throughput by the automated storage andretrieval system to the one or more lower level controllers.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theone or more lower level controllers are configured for generatingcommands for the one or more base controllers, the commands effectingperformance of the tasks assigned the one or more lower levelcontrollers, and are configured so that the commands are generated bythe one or more lower level controllers independent of the one or morehigh level controllers wherein performance of the assigned tasks ismanaged by the lower level controllers independent of the one or morehigh level controllers.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theone or more lower level controllers are configured for selectingautomated components to effect performance of the assigned tasks, andfor effecting selection of the automated components independent of theone or more high level controllers.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, theone or more base controllers interface with and are configured forgenerating command signals effecting control of the automated componentsautomation.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, eachof the one or more lower level controllers is arranged for controlling adifferent group of the automated components, and the one or more highlevel controllers is configured for selecting and assigning high leveltasks to one of the one or more lower level controllers in accordancewith a predetermined characteristic of the group of automated componentscontrolled by that lower level controller.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, thepredetermined characteristic is a disposition of the group of automatedcomponents within the storage space.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, eachof the one or more lower level controllers is a group controllerarranged for controlling a different group of the automated componentsso that the automated components of the group corresponding to the lowerlevel controller are different and distinct from other automatedcomponents of other groups, and wherein the lower level controller isconfigured for independently selecting at least one of the automatedcomponents from the corresponding group for effecting performance of atleast one of the assigned tasks.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment, thelower level controller is configured for directing the selectedautomated component to a storage location in accordance with the atleast one assigned task.

It should be understood that the foregoing description is onlyillustrative of the aspects of the disclosed embodiment. Variousalternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in theart without departing from the aspects of the disclosed embodiment.Accordingly, the aspects of the disclosed embodiment are intended toembrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances that fallwithin the scope of the appended claims. Further, the mere fact thatdifferent features are recited in mutually different dependent orindependent claims does not indicate that a combination of thesefeatures cannot be advantageously used, such a combination remainingwithin the scope of the aspects of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An automated storage and retrieval systemcomprising: a storage space with storage locations defined therein; anautomated transport system connected to the storage space and comprisingvertical lifts configured to vertically transport store units forstorage in the storage locations and retrieval from the storagelocations; and a control system disposed for managing throughputperformance of the automated storage and retrieval system, the controlsystem having a distributed hierarchical arrangement comprising one ormore high level controllers, one or more lower level vertical transportcontrollers communicably connected to the one or more high levelcontrollers, and one or more base lift controllers communicablyconnected to the lower level vertical transport controllers, the one ormore lower level vertical transport controllers intervening between theone or more base lift controllers and the one or more high levelcontrollers, where at least one of the lower level vertical transportcontrollers independently manages throughput performance of a commongroup of the vertical lifts for a common group of output store unitsindependent of another common group of output store units, thethroughput performance being characterized by request response aspectsof the common group of the vertical lifts that are responsive separatelyand distinct from each request to output store units from the storagelocations; wherein the one or more high level controllers is configuredfor generating high level tasks effecting throughput performance andmanaging the high level tasks including assigning high level tasks tothe one or more lower level vertical transport controllers thatdetermine vertical throughput of the common group of output store unitswith the common group of the vertical lifts.
 2. The automated storageand retrieval system of claim 1, wherein the one or more lower levelvertical transport controllers are configured for generating commandsfor the one or more base lift controllers, the commands effectingperformance of the tasks assigned the one or more lower level verticaltransport controllers, and are configured so that the commands aregenerated by the one or more lower level vertical transport controllersindependent of the one or more high level controllers whereinperformance of the assigned tasks is managed by the lower level verticaltransport controllers independent of the one or more high levelcontrollers.
 3. The automated storage and retrieval system of claim 1,wherein the one or more lower level vertical transport controllers areconfigured for selecting vertical lifts to effect performance of theassigned tasks, and for effecting selection of the vertical liftsindependent of the one or more high level controllers.
 4. The automatedstorage and retrieval system of claim 1, wherein the one or more baselift controllers interface with and are configured for generatingcommand signals effecting control of the vertical lifts automation. 5.The automated storage and retrieval system of claim 1, wherein each ofthe one or more lower level vertical transport controllers is arrangedfor controlling a different group of the vertical lifts, and the one ormore high level controllers is configured for selecting and assigninghigh level tasks to one of the one or more lower level verticaltransport controllers in accordance with a predetermined characteristicof the group of vertical lifts controlled by that lower level verticaltransport controller.
 6. The automated storage and retrieval system ofclaim 5, wherein the predetermined characteristic is a disposition ofthe common group of output store units with respect to the common groupof vertical lifts.
 7. The automated storage and retrieval system ofclaim 1, wherein each of the one or more lower level vertical transportcontrollers is a group controller arranged for controlling a differentgroup of the vertical lifts so that the vertical lifts of the groupcorresponding to the lower level vertical transport controller aredifferent and distinct from other vertical lifts of other groups, andwherein the lower level vertical transport controller is configured forindependently selecting at least one of the vertical lifts from thecorresponding group for effecting performance of at least one of theassigned tasks.
 8. The automated storage and retrieval system of claim7, wherein the lower level vertical transport controller is configuredfor directing the selected vertical lift to a storage location inaccordance with the at least one assigned task.
 9. A method for managingthroughput performance of an automated storage and retrieval system, themethod comprising: providing a storage space with storage locationsdefined therein; vertically transporting store units for storage in thestorage locations and retrieving the store units from the storagelocations with vertical lifts of an automated transport system; managingthroughput performance of the automated storage and retrieval system,with a control system, the control system having a distributedhierarchical arrangement comprising one or more high level controllers,one or more lower level vertical transport controllers communicablyconnected to the one or more high level controllers, and one or morebase lift controllers communicably connected to the lower level verticaltransport controllers, the one or more lower level vertical transportcontrollers intervening between the one or more base lift controllersand the one or more high level controllers, where at least one of thelower level vertical transport controllers independently managesthroughput performance of a common group of the vertical lifts for acommon group of output store units independent of another common groupof output store units, the throughput performance being characterized byrequest response aspects of the common group of the vertical lifts thatare responsive separately and distinct from each request to output storeunits from the storage locations; and generating, with the one or morehigh level controllers, high level tasks effecting throughputperformance and managing, with the one or more high level controllers,the high level tasks including assigning high level tasks to the one ormore lower level vertical transport controllers that determine verticalthroughput of the common group of output store units with the commongroup of the vertical lifts.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising generating commands for the one or more base liftcontrollers, with the one or more lower level vertical transportcontrollers, the commands effecting performance of the tasks assignedthe one or more lower level vertical transport controllers, where thecommands are generated by the one or more lower level vertical transportcontrollers independent of the one or more high level controllerswherein performance of the assigned tasks is managed by the lower levelvertical transport controllers independent of the one or more high levelcontrollers.
 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising selectingvertical lifts, with the one or more lower level vertical transportcontrollers, to effect performance of the assigned tasks, and effecting,with the one or more lower level vertical transport controllers,selection of the vertical lifts independent of the one or more highlevel controllers.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or morebase lift controllers interface with and are configured for generatingcommand signals effecting control of the vertical lifts automation. 13.The method of claim 9, wherein each of the one or more lower levelvertical transport controllers controls a different group of thevertical lifts, and the one or more high level controllers selects andassigns high level tasks to one of the one or more lower level verticaltransport controllers in accordance with a predetermined characteristicof the group of vertical lifts controlled by that lower level verticaltransport controller.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein thepredetermined characteristic is a disposition of the common group ofoutput store units with respect to the common group vertical lifts. 15.The method of claim 9, wherein each of the one or more lower levelvertical transport controllers is a group controller that controls adifferent group of the vertical lifts so that the vertical lifts of thegroup corresponding to the lower level vertical transport controller aredifferent and distinct from other vertical lifts of other groups, andwherein the lower level vertical transport controller independentlyselects at least one of the vertical lifts from the corresponding groupfor effecting performance of at least one of the assigned tasks.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, further comprising directing the selected verticallift, with the lower level vertical transport controller, to a storagelocation in accordance with the at least one assigned task.